Fruit-pic king ladder



A. COLE.

FRUIT PICKING LADDER.

(No Model.)

No. 588,130. Patented Aug. 17,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- ALEXANDER COLE, OF BRIDGETON, NE\V JERSEY,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T O LEWIS A. SHAYV, OF MILLVILLE, NEYV JERSEY.

FRUIT-PICKING' LADDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 588,130, dated August1'7, 1897.

Applioationfiled March 25, 1897- To coZZ whont it may C07'1/0677&:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER COLE, of Bridgeton, in the county ofCumberland and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fruit-Picking Ladders; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention comprises a frui t-pickingladder the sides or legs of whichare tubes through which the fruit, as picked by hand from the trees, candescend without damage.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front view of aladder, showing my invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of one ofits legs and showingits interior lining and flaps; Fig. 3, across-section through one of the ladder-legs; Fig. 4, one of theremovable leg-holders and its bands for holding the legs together; Fig.5, a side view of the ladder with a back support applied to and centeredon one of the removable rounds, a portion of the near leg of the ladderbeing broken away.

The legs A of the ladder are made tubular to serve as conductors for thefruit to convey it downward from the hand of the person picking it toany appropriate basket or receptacle placed at the foot of the ladder.These ladder-legs I prefer to make square and of boards of aboutthree-fourths of an inch thick and of such breadth that when nailedtogether there will be a clear tubular interior space sufficient to passthe fruit down freely. Before such nailing together I line these boardson their inner sides with a fruit-protecting material a, such as cantonor wool flannel or other appropriate and soft textile or suitablematerial, adapted to insure the fruit from being bruised in its passage,and short flaps of such or similar material may hang loosely over theinside of the openings a mentioned below. These legs have openings, asmany as desired, on their front sides to receive the fruit when pickedand have also near their lower ends an outlet a for the discharge of thefruit.

seriano; 529,230. (No model.)

The fruit may also be put into the top of the tubular legs, as at a Thelegs A are securely held together by iron fastening-bands B, serving astube-holders, having at each end asquare band 5, adapted in size to beslipped over the ends of the legs and to fit thereon. These pieces B bare quite distinct from the ladder-rounds presently to be described. Byslipping the piecesB 1) off the ends of the tubes the latter becomereleased and set free.

Some of the cotton flannel or other lining a is allowed to protrudethrough the openings a near the bottom of the tubular legs, and thusprotect the fruit as delivered to any basket or other receptacle. Thefruit is thus protected from start to finish of its route of travel.

On the front or rearside of each of the legs 70. are secured brackets orfasteners C of any appropriate kind to receive the rounds or rods 'D,which are to support the person or persons whilepickingthefruit.Theserodsorrounds are made long enough to pass entirely through 7 5 theholes made for them in these holders or brackets and also to projectabout one foot or so at each end beyond the legs, and, as shown in Fig.1, these projecting ends 01' allow two persons conveniently to pickfruit at the same time even while standing on the same round or on nearor adjacent rounds and also to reach out farther sidewise in pickingthan is possible with the usual short rounds of a common ladder.

The fruit as picked can be put into the conductor at any height at whichthe picker may be, the openings 64 being located wherever desired.

The rounds or rods D, which are the steps of the ladder, are so appliedto the front or rear of the tubes, as may be preferred, that they may beeasily removed and replaced, and thus it will be understood that theentire structure can easily be taken all apart for 5 transportation orshipment or to be put away in small space and in compact form after being used.

The rounds D can be stored away or packed inside the tubular legs, andthus be well pro- Ioo tected. A convenient way of applying these roundsfor use is, as previously stated, by inserting them in suitable holesmade in the' the legs at the proper distance apart from each other, buttheir bands I) being square to fit these square tubes the latter cannotturn around within the bands, and thus they are kept positivelyin properpositions, so that the fruit is properly conveyed to and discharged intothe basket. The holders thus answer a double purpose.

WVhen desired,I have a back support (shown at E) attached removably tothe back or under side of the ladder and serving the duty of the backsupport of an ordinary step-lad- .der. Instead of hinging such supportto the ladder, as is customary in step-ladders, I connect it to thefirst or upper round of my ladder, this round passing through thissupport or through any eye secured thereon, as shown at e, thus enablingthe support E to be closed up against the ladder or its rounds andbetween the ladder-legs, if desired. A connecting-rod e should beattached to one or both legs of this support, and when'in use such rodor rods should be hooked to a staple or staples on the conductor-legs.The removal of this upper round releases this support, so that it may beused or not, as desired. Thus even with this support provided the Wholestructure can yet be all readily taken apart for any purpose, or if thesupport be not applied the remainder of the structure can be used as anordinary ladder for any purpose where a lad der is Wanted.

I claiin- 1. A ladder having tubular legs or sides,

internally lined with a soft material and having openings in such legsto receive fruit as picked from a tree, and a lower opening in such legsfor discharging the fruit, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the square, tubular,

ladder-legs, the metal tube-holders having end bands around the legsadapted to he slipped on and oif the ends of the legs, and roundsremovably applied to the face of the legs, all substantially as setforth.

3. In combination with a fruit-picking 1am der having tubular legsprovided with openings therein for receiving and discharging thegathered fruit, removable rounds held in supports on the outside of suchlegs and of a length to project beyond such legs, thus enabling twopersons though standing on the same round, to gather fruit at the sametime.

4:. In combination, the tubular legs, the removable tube-holders, theremovable rounds, and a removable back support hungou one of theremovable rounds, and whereby the whole structure may be readily takenapart and put together at will.

ALEXANDER COLE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. ALLEN, ELIJAH HIDER.

